Former Prime Minister and President of the Bangladesh Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, has expressed gratitude to what she described as “people from all walks of life, including mothers, sisters and minority communities” for rejecting what she termed a “farcical and unconstitutional election” held under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus.
In a statement, Hasina alleged that the election was “pre-planned and fraudulent,” claiming it was conducted without the participation of her party and marked by minimal voter turnout. She accused the authorities of undermining democratic values, constitutional principles and citizens’ voting rights.
According to the statement, incidents of alleged ballot stuffing, vote buying, intimidation and forced occupation of polling centers began on the evening of February 11. Hasina further claimed that from the morning of February 12, voter presence at many polling stations across the country, including in the capital, remained “negligible,” with some centers reportedly empty.
Citing figures from the Election Commission’s briefing, she said that as of 11:00 am, voter turnout stood at 14.96 percent after three and a half hours of voting, which she argued reflected a public boycott of what she called an “Awami League–excluded election.”
The former premier also alleged that party supporters, minority communities and sympathizers faced harassment, arrests and intimidation in the days leading up to the vote. Despite this, she claimed, many chose to abstain from participating. She additionally raised concerns over what she described as an “abnormal increase” in the number of registered voters in Dhaka, calling the matter questionable.
In her statement, Hasina demanded the cancellation of the election, the resignation of Yunus, and the withdrawal of what she termed “false cases” against political leaders, teachers, journalists and professionals. She also called for the lifting of restrictions on Awami League activities and urged the formation of a neutral caretaker government to organize a free, fair and inclusive election to restore citizens’ voting rights.
